Light filtered through a narrow gap between the wall and blackout curtains. Dust floated slowly by above the floor.

Luke jerked violently as he came to, memories flooding in his head.

Galen!

And Kota... Kota had–

This was not the cantina anymore. Luke's eyes darted across the small, dark room. A kitchen unit at the opposite wall. Door to another room that was closed. A covered window and a door out of here right next to it.

His ankles caught in their shackles as he tried to stand up. His arms were behind his back, wrists cuffed together.

"Kriff..." Luke swore under his breath, but he could barely hear the word. He gulped as it dawned onto him that a muffler covered the lower half of his face. He could scream his voice hoarse and a person standing on the other side of the room might not even hear him.

His eyes darted across the room again, scouring for information. How long had he been out? Where was he?

Kota must have done this.

Sighing heavily Luke let his head slump back against the floor. Kota knew who he was.

"Idiot..." he berated himself. One thing, just one thing he was supposed to keep secret and he just blurted it out to the enemy!

But... It might have been the one thing that saved his life. Kota had been about to kill him. What an idiot he had been, barging in like that without a plan, without any precaution. Just for a moment...he should have stopped to think it through. But he had been so desperate and so angry, and so caught up in the moment.

He had greatly underestimated Kota —and greatly overestimated himself. Galen barely beat the old Jedi. Luke's carelessness almost cost him his life. The only thing that saved him was Kota's own hatred for Darth Vader.

Luke hadn't even thought to say it to save his life. He had said it because he was angry, and because he was proud to be his father's son. He had hoped the information might have somehow hurt Kota, though how he had no idea. But in that moment, moments before he was to die, he had wanted to look his killer in the eye and let him know who he was dealing with. And who would be coming after him.

But you can't help Galen if you're dead, he thought. The secret was worth revealing if it brought him closer to his brother's disappearance. Galen was still out there.

Whatever had happened after Kota snuffed out his consciousness was secondary. His first priority now should be to escape.

Slowly Luke managed to bring himself to a sitting position. Leaning against the bed frame behind him he tested his bonds again. They didn't budge. He hadn't really expected them to. Closing his eyes he focused on the locking mechanism of the cuffs around his hands.

He gasped when the binders tightened around his wrists as he tried to open the lock. Cursing his carelessness yet again Luke focused harder, this time being careful to move the lock bolt to the right direction.

The cuffs tightened again, pressing his wrists against each other. Annoyed, Luke tried once more, yet the cuffs still only tightened around him, doing so each time he tried to force them open, and by now they pressed against his skin so hard he couldn't move his wrists at all. Soon his fingers began to tingle.

Abandoning his quest for freeing himself from his bonds Luke took another look at the room he woke up in. An apartment he should say. Behind him was a single bed. The room had the bare minimum of kitchen space one person would need, a small table and a chair by the side of the room and not much else. Clothes hung from a row of pegs on the wall and more lay scattered across the room. There were dirty remains of take-away food and an alarming number of empty liquor bottles.

Luke watched the streak of light travel across the floor and eventually slowly disappear. He had been able stand up without too much difficulty, but there was no hope for walking. The binders around his ankles likely operated in same manner and Luke didn't want his feet suffer the same fate his hands had. His fingers had gone numb ages ago and judging by the biometric lock on the device binding his ankles there was no hope for release until Kota returned. The front door hadn't budged either, and Luke wasn't able to create a Force push strong enough without the aid of his hands and arms. There didn't seem to be much point in doing so anyway until he was free to move.

There was nothing for Luke to do but wait.

A backpack thrown on the floor right by Luke's head had him jerk awake. Without noticing he'd drifted to uneasy sleep as hours ticked by. The room was completely dark, but Luke could make the figure of Kota in the room.

"Good, you're awake. We're leaving," Kota announced.

An empty liquor bottle crashed against the wall, flying right past the Jedi's head. Kota didn't even turn to face Luke.

"You need to work on you aim, young Vader," he said. Several more bottles flew at him, all of them stopping midair behind him.

"You've still much to learn," he said. The bottles shattered, shards raining down on the floor.

Fuming Luke watched Kota rummage the kitchenette. Leaving? Leaving where? His eyes followed Kota as he crossed the room and stuffed something inside the backpack that had given Luke a rude wakeup. The man flung it on his back and pulled Luke up.

Luke groaned in pain as Kota manhandled him by his bound arms, but the audible sound was pathetically weak through the muffling mask. He could barely stay on his feet after lying so long on the floor.

Kota threw a large coat on his shoulders and as his hands searched for the hood Luke remembered he was blind. The hood was pulled over his head and Kota began to fumble with the zipper. It was not a coat for the humid warmth of Nar Shaddaa, and Luke was feeling uncomfortably warm already.

"Stop it," he hissed angrily, pulling away from the man and stumbling onto the bed behind him. The pain shooting up his arms made the room disappear behind a white haze of agony.

"You can come willingly or fight, but you are coming all the same," Kota said, zipping up the half done coat as Luke lay on his back, pressing his eyes shut against the pain. "I'm giving you one chance to walk on your own."

"Did you do this to Galen, too?" Luke groaned, though Kota could barely hear him over the rustle of the coat.

"What? Speak up." Kota's arms took a firm grip of Luke's upper arms. He could barely feel the touch, yet the pain made him see stars.

"Take me to my brother," Luke demanded, raising his voice as the man pulled him back up.

"Not this again," Kota sighed, pulling back the hood over the boy's head and tightening the its string to make sure it would not fall off. He contemplated Luke for a moment too long before speaking. "We'll talk about your brother if you come with me without making a scene."

Luke knew it was a trap of some kind, but he nodded nevertheless before realising the man did not see it.

"All right," he confirmed. Even in the silence of the room his voice was barely audible.

"Good. Remember that you walking is just a convenience. If I so much as suspect you try anything there won't be any talk about your brother and you won't be conscious for the rest of the way."

Luke's jaw tightened in anger, but he said: "Understood."

Luke stood still as Kota wrapped a scarf around his head to cover the muffling device. Sweat dripped down Luke's back and he thought surely wearing this would look more suspicious than walking down the street chained. Nar Shaddaa was shady and full of criminals despite the Empire's presence.

Kota bent down and freed his ankles with another stern warning. Though his arms begged for release, Luke was too proud to say so. The Jedi's hand pressed against his back. "Walk."

With a hand firmly at his back the blind man guided Luke through empty, dark streets. They passed by a group of sleeping beggars, a gang of men sitting at a low table playing Sabacc and a pair of patrolling troopers.

"Keep walking."

Luke did. When they arrived to a more populated area lined by bars and nightclubs, Kota hurried their steps. Luke was starting to get himself on the map and more importantly understand where they were headed. The spaceport. Kota was about to take him off world.

Though the early morning hours at this part Nar Shaddaa were cooler, Luke was ready to faint from the heat when they boarded a small cargo ship. He lent against the wall heavily and was relieved to let himself slide down to the floor when Kota ordered him to sit down. Only a small groan of protest escaped his lips when Kota re-bound his ankles and chained him to a metal ring for fastening cargo. Luke's shoulders burnt with pain like they were on fire. He didn't know if his fingers moved at all as he tried to wiggle them. He couldn't feel a thing below the binders.

He didn't realise how dazed he was cocooned inside the big coat until he felt the ship's jump to hyperspace, towards destination unknown. He could only hope Kota would keep his word and tell him what he knew of Galen.

"Wakey, wakey boy. This is our stop."

A boot nudged his side. Luke blinked at the man hovering above him. His weak wail of pain was nearly inaudible when Kota pulled him on his already unbound feet. Stumbling forward Luke fought to understand what was happening. He remembered pressing his forehead against the floor for relief in hopes it would be cool and feeling the ship's vibration inside his skull already throbbing with headache. People said the space was cold, and perhaps it was, but spaceships were in fact the opposite. Heating was not a problem as long as the engines were running. Getting rid of the excess heat was, and the cargo hold was very warm indeed. Especially for a boy wearing a coat meant for subzero temperatures. He was thirsty. So, so very thirsty. His shirt was like wet cloth sticking against his skin.

A door hissed open revealing a small space behind. Escape pod, Luke thought as Kota pushed him onto a seat. He pressed his eyes shut and leant his back against the wall. The door closed and sealed, engines hummed to life and lights lit up around them. He peeled his eyes open just as he felt the escape pod jettison. Kota stood by the door, holding onto a handle to keep his stance steady as the pod's engines began working, thrusting them away from the spaceship.

Luke wanted to ask where he was being taken, but chose to remain silent. Let Kota be the first to speak. If only he could concentrate enough to kill the man...

"I don't need to see you to feel how you look at me with hatred," the Jedi spoke.

Luke's eyes narrowed further. Damn right he looked the man with hate. Somewhere at the back of his mind he was aware the irritation the felt was a symptom of his heat exhaustion, and that he ought to keep a cool head. His rash actions committed in heat of a moment had got him here after all.

"Your anger is strong, but it's not a reliable ally in battle –as you ought to have noticed."

Luke said nothing.

"Right. You can't speak, can you?" Kota realised. He crossed the narrow space between them, hands finding Luke's shoulders. He pulled Luke away from the wall and began undoing the scarf covering his face, then loosening the threads and pulling off the hood. Luke's hair was a sweaty mess, and Kota's brief touch felt cool against Luke's hot and clammy skin. The muffler beeped as it loosened around Luke's face and turned off. That alone was an immense relief to Luke, and he was almost ready to thank Kota when he unzipped the coat halfway, though he did not remove it.

Luke was about to open his mouth to once again demand to know of Galen's whereabouts, when something caught his eye behind the small viewport.

"What do you see?" Kota asked.

An asteroid? No...

"...junk," Luke replied despite himself. They were passing floating debris of metal. Had there been a space battle?

"Raxus Prime," Kota said. "The Galaxy's very own junk yard."

Luke had never heard of it. The longer he watched the more he saw. Entire spaceships and satellites, some of them clearly damaged beyond repair, some of them seemingly in perfect condition. They went by something that looked like an early version of a Star Destroyer, and though there were several ship lengths between them, Luke could see it had taken heavy damage. He almost moaned in disappointment when another ship, so close Luke could see through its viewports, obstructed the view. By the time they had passed it, the Star Destroyed lookalike was out of their line of sight.

As they entered the planet's upper atmosphere, the escape pod began turning. The planet that had previously been out of sight above them briefly became in view to their side just to be hidden again below them as the pod completed its rotation. There was even more junk here, hanging right above the sky, ready to begin a free fall to the surface far below. The engines switched to atmospherical, and though their's was not a free fall, it was a far cry from the smooth landing Luke had experienced on Rogue Shadow or Ebullient.

He watched Kota run his hand against the doorframe until the man found the lock and opened the door. It hissed as the airtight vacuum seals were released, and then immediately a gust of cool wind blew in. The eye-watering air smelt of metal and fuel. It could not have been healthy to breathe here without a mask, Luke thought as Kota stepped out.

"All right. Out you come, young Vader."

Luke glared at the Jedi. "That's not my name."

"No? I sure as hell won't call you Skywalker."

"Then don't call me anything, Jedi."

"Well, whatever your name is, get up and start walking if you want to discuss your brother."

Luke loathed how the Jedi had his immediate attention. "Take me to him," Luke demanded.

"I can't do that. Now come. Or stay and make that escape pod your grave. It won't fly you out of here. The food and water will keep you alive for a month or two, but good luck getting them or eating and drinking with your hands bound. Those cuffs are not coming off without me. But I believe you've already discovered that," Kota said almost smugly.

Luke wanted to scream in anger, but kept his mouth shut and walked out past the Jedi with unsteady feet. It did not help that there was no ground to speak of. Just metal.

"Where to? There's nothing here. It's just junk everywhere," he groaned, but as he said so, two battle droids unlike anything he had ever seen before emerged from the shadows of a nearby hull. Cleary the same model, but built out of bits and pieces of salvaged parts they were easy to tell apart. They carried pikes, likely electric, but judging by the metal plates, Luke was willing to bet their arms doubled as laser cannons.

"Are you Rahm Kota?" the other asked. Its voice was heavily artificial and crackled like a radio tuned wrong.

"I am," Kota said, stepping closer. Both droids turned to him in unison.

"Identity confirmed. Master Rahm Kota, is this the prisoner you reported?"

"Yes."

The droids accepted his answer and turned around. "Please follow us, Master Kota."

The blind Jedi and his bound, tired and dehydrated prisoner followed, both of them stumbling through rubble where one misstep could have easily lead to a fatal wound. It was a sad sight. Sharp metal, tangled wires and hulls of ships and broken machinery dominated the landscape. Luke didn't see a single living thing as they kept on walking and walking, though perhaps there were still forests or something else alive somewhere on this dying planet providing them oxygen to breathe. By now Luke could taste metal at the back of his mouth and his throat burnt. He could have cried out of joy when they finally, after what must have been over an hour, arrived to some form of transport. It was just a small open platform for moving cargo, but he was glad to sit down, feet hanging over the ledge. Behind him, Kota sat on his knees, meditating with his hands on his lap.

It would have been easy for Luke to just jump. But even if he survived the fall uninjured and could evade the two battle droids, he had nowhere to go. He still had his arms bound behind his back. He had no food, no water, no way of getting out of here. So instead he remained seated, taking in the apocalyptic scenery. Even here from the surface he could see the atmosphere was filled with nothing but junk. The few clouds on the sky looked sickly yellowish, and the low hanging sun cast long shadows over its desolate world.

The looming cluster of towers in the horizon seemed to be their destination. There were five of them, one taller that the others, and as they closed the distance Luke recognised it for what it was. Or what it tried to be.

"What do you see?" Kota asked again.

Luke craned his neck to see the Jedi. He had not moved.

"It looks like the Jedi Temple on Coruscant," he said after a moment of silence.

"You know the Temple?" Kota asked with genuine surprise.

"I've seen pictures."

"That is the Jedi Temple," one of the droids suddenly said. "Master Paratus relocated it here."

"I see," Kota said, but Luke could feel the man was not comfortable with the statement. Just where was he taking Luke?

Paratus... Luke had never heard the name before. A Jedi, clearly. He would find out soon, he thought as the towers grew taller in the horizon. As they arrived, Luke realised that they too, were constructed of pieces of old spaceships and the rest of the junk that seemed to be the only resource here.

The arrived to an empty hangar and were ushered across the space by the two droids.

"Master Paratus and the High Council will meet you in their Chamber," one said as they climbed up stairs to leave the hangar.

"The Council?" Kota repeated bewilderedly. Even Luke knew the Jedi High Council was long gone. Galen had killed one of its last surviving members.

"Yes," the droid confirmed. "This way, please."

Luke could sense Kota's tense confusion as they followed their escort —one of the pair now walking behind them as if they were both prisoners— through dirty, rusty corridors to a lift. Even Kota seemed hesitant to step in after listening it arrive. But in they went and despite the worrying noises it safely took them to a jerky stop. The doors opened to reveal a circular room with large windows on all walls, lined with chairs occupied by grotesque metal puppets –and by the smallest of them stood an almost equally small male Aleena. Robotic arms on his back doubled as legs and lifted him up to match a Human height.

"Sith scum," the man spoke with apparent hatred. He charged forward without a warning, armed with a long pike that whacked Luke, knocking the air out of him, and straight after hit at the arms bound behind his back. Luke cried in pain and double over onto the floor.

"Master Paratus," Kota said in a clear attempt to hide his shock. "There's no need for that."

"We stand amongst the High Council!" Paratus declared. "The Sith assassin must know his place."

"The Council?"

Luke groaned in pain, but lifted his head to take a closer look at the room around them. Indeed, he could recognise the puppets now. Or were they droids? The small one represented Yoda. The Human shaped figure to its right must have been Mace Windu. Ki-Adi-Mundi and Shaak Ti had features that easily made them stand out. It was less obvious who the dolls represented with all the humanoids. One of them caught his eye. A Human male, he supposed. But not Windu or Kenobi. He sat on the wrong seat to be either.

"Don't stare Master Skywalker," Paratus snapped. "Show some respect!"

"Skywalker?" Kota repeated. His lips curled into a smirk and he turned to look down at Luke with his blind eyes hidden behind the rag. "What's the matter, boy? Don't you recognise your own father?"

Father... Luke saw no familiar features on the heap of junk that represented his father. Kota was more right than he realised. Anakin Skywalker was not his father. There had been a time the name had carried that meaning, but those days were behind him. Anakin Skywalker the Jedi was but a stranger.

"Master Skywalker has no children," Paratus growled, entirely missing the hint of a joke in Kota's voice.

"Skywalker was never a Master," Kota said with a surprising amount of spite. "He should never have been allowed to sit with the Council."

The spider-like mechanical appendixes swung Paratus so close to Kota their noses almost brushed. Kota did not flinch. "You speak of the Chosen One!"

"Chosen One," Kota scoffed. "Chosen for what? His skills did not save the Order. He was arrogant and reckless, and now he's dead with the rest of them."

"No!" Paratus screeched. "Do not speak ill of the Masters!"

His spike tapped the floor in an angry emphasis, and Kota took half a step backwards in surprise.

"The Masters are dead."

Paratus rose higher with the aid of his spider legs, truly upset this time. "No! The Masters sit around us! I take care of them, I protect them!"

Luke both saw and felt Kota tense. He himself remained frozen on the floor, hoping to stay under this madman's radar.

Confused worry lingered on Kota's face as he spoke calmly: "Master Paratus. The Masters are all dead, save perhaps for Master Yoda and Master Ti. These creations of yours, while impressive, are not real."

Luke watched the stare-down between the two Jedi warily. He knew Ti was dead, but now was not the time to gloat with that particular information. The Aleena Jedi was clearly out of his mind.

At first it seemed as Paratus would attack. Kota's hand slowly reached towards the pocket of his coat. Then something on Paratus's expression changed. Sanity returned to the eyes that moments before were wide with madness.

"Yes. Yes, of course," he said, lowering himself on the floor. His free hand rose to his temple. "I remember now."

Kota's posture relaxed and his hand returned to his side, and Luke felt some of his own tension break as well. Had the two began fighting, he would have been helpless.

"Master Paratus... Kazdan," Kota began gently. "Are you all right?"

"Yes, yes... I'm fine," the Aleena said, though it seemed his thoughts were elsewhere. Then suddenly he said: "You're blind. You didn't tell me you were blind."

"You didn't tell me you had built a replica of home," Kota countered.

"What happened? Was it the war?" Paratus asked, ignoring Kota's statement. Then idly added: "I fled the war."

"No, not quite. I wanted to lure Vader in a trap, but he sent an assassin instead. Things didn't go as planned."

"And now you've brought the Sith assassin here?" Paratus asked, pointing his spike at Luke. "I can feel the dark side in him. I can see it in his eyes."

"I've brought an assassin."

"Why? Why would you soil this space with his presence?" Paratus wanted to know, his tone tracing madness again.

"This one isn't just an assassin. This boy is Darth Vader's offspring."

"I'm not–"

"Silence!" Paratus cut Luke off instantly. "You are not worthy of speaking in the presence of the Masters!"

"The only Masters here are you and I," Kota reminded the Aleena.

For a moment Paratus looked utterly lost and confused. His eyes sought the puppet council, before looking at Luke again. "Vader's child?"

"So he claims."

"If that's true then he must die," Paratus declared. "We must kill him immediately!"

"Yes, but not yet," Kota said firmly, stepping aside to place himself between Luke and the unpredictable Jedi Master. "This boy is our best chance of luring Darth Vader into a trap and killing him. Even if he lied his claim could be enough to bring Vader out in the open on our terms."

"No," Paratus said and began pacing the chamber on his spider legs. "No, Vader cannot come here. He mustn't find me. Us. The Masters. I must protect the Masters."

"It doesn't have to be here," Kota assured, strain evident in his tone. "But I have to keep him somewhere secure. You said you could do that."

"I didn't say to bring in Vader! You didn't tell me you were bringing him here!"

"That's not something to say over comm, no matter how secure the line. Vader doesn't have to come here. We will lay our trap elsewhere. But the boy must be kept secure."

Luke watched the Aleena resume his pacing. Kota had tensed again, his fingers lingering by his pocket.

My lightsaber, Luke realised. It was the only weapon Kota would have to fight another Jedi. If Luke concentrated, he could turn on the blade and impale Kota. But what then? Kazdan Paratus would surely kill him.

"He must remain locked up," Paratus said.

"I was hoping to do so."

"He must be kept below the temple. In the dungeons," Paratus rambled. "The Council has decided."

"Dungeons..?" Kota repeated confusedly.

The droids that had escorted Luke and Kota here, and had remained entirely unmoving and silent until now, suddenly stepped forward.

"Lock him up in the dungeon."

"Time for us to go, boy," Kota said in a low voice. The man leant down to grab Luke by the coat's collar and hoisted him up on his feet. The doors to the lift screeched open, and the droids saw them in.

As soon as the doors closed behind them and the lift began moving, Luke turned to Kota. "You can't be serious about this," he hissed. "That guy is insane!"

"Keep quiet," Kota warned. Luke glanced at the droids around them and took the Jedi's advice. Though nothing had happened in the end, he knew he was better off with Kota. Oddly enough, he got the feeling the Jedi thought the same of him.

"You promised you'd tell me what you did to my brother," Luke said instead.

"No, I promised we'd talk about your brother."

"Then speak," Luke demanded. "Tell me what you did to him."

The Jedi sighed exasperatedly. "I told you, I haven't done a thing to your brother. I know nothing of him."

"You must know something," Luke insisted. "You said you saw yourself as part of his future. You said you saw shackles and rage. He told me."

"I seem to have found shackles and rage," Kota chuckled. "There's a lot of anger in you, boy."

The lift came to a stop, and the pair stepped out to follow the droid in the lead deeper into the junk temple's underbelly.

"What's wrong with that? Anger gives me power," Luke countered irritably.

"Nothing good ever comes of anger in the long run. If you follow that path, inevitably, it consumes you."

"Spare me your Jedi philosophy."

"It might do you some good," Kota said quietly. Luke frowned in silence and thought of how much he wanted to kill the man right now.

Their steps and voices echoed in the empty, dark corridors and stairways. As they walked on, lights became scarce and soon they walked in near complete darkness. It didn't hinder Kota of course, but it took Luke extra effort to concentrate on feeling his surroundings to be able to step forward with confidence. He was just starting to feel at ease in moving in the near complete darkness when the droid came to a halt. A door to their right opened.

"The prisoner will stay here," the droid announced. Its hand grabbed Luke and pulled him forward into the equally pitch black room as the corridor. He was forced onto the floor and he felt metal close around his neck.

"Wait, Kota!" Luke called as the droid let go and marched back to Kota and the other droid. "You can't leave me here! You're making a mistake! Paratus is out of his mind!"

"I'll talk to you later, boy," he heard Kota say as the door came down, closing him in near complete darkness.

"Kota, wait! Come back!" he shouted in vain. The only light in the room came from a single dot of red light at a corner of the room near ceiling. Likely a camera. Luke could hear the droids' metal footsteps as they walked away, leaving him completely and utterly alone.

It was difficult to say how long Luke waited. His eyes had adjusted to the little light he had and he could just about make the outlines of the door or the chain that kept him from reaching it. It was cold and lonely, and Luke did his best to burrow inside his coat. He had been fed seven times since being locked in, but he was hungry and thirsty again. It must have been more than seven days. He had licked the plate clean ages ago, and there was not a drop of water left in the shallow bowl that had been brought to him. His hands remained bound behind his back, so the only way for him to eat or drink was to crouch down and lap up like a dog.

He wasn't sure if it was the hunger and thirst or what was in the food and water that made him feel detached from reality. Try as he might he could not muster enough concentration to free himself or do anything else useful. He had flung the metal plate and bowl across the room once they were empty. Now he found himself not able to move them back to himself. It would be useless anyway. There was no food or water left.

But what if..? He was so, so thirsty. Drops condensing on the links of his chain were not enough to satisfy it. He listened the darkness, and he couldn't tell if the hum surrounding him came form the building itself or if it was merely in his head.

At first he had meditated and reached into the Force to slow down everything in his body. In a terrifying realisation he understood that this was why Galen had insisted he taught himself to remain in total isolation for as long as possible. Luke's record was mere five days opposed to Galen's impressive eleven days. He'd never taken this lesson seriously.

The sound of an opening door was like thunder in his ears, though he had heard Paratus's droids coming down the corridor. Their steps carried from far in the emptiness of these dungeons. His heart leapt in hope of nourishment, but his anger at his captors drowned the feeling.

The were not here to feed him this time.

"You have been summoned by the Council."

The collar and chain remained as he was dragged forward. Luke could scarcely keep up with the droids, and the closer to the round chamber they got the brighter it was. After days spent in darkness his eyes could not keep up with the brightening surroundings. Lifts doors opened, revealing the mad Jedi Kazdan Paratus standing on his spider legs, swaying and muttering to himself against bright sunlight.

"He's here," Paratus exclaimed, quickly swaying to the closest heap of trash he thought was a Jedi. "The Sith is here. Fear not, I will protect you masters!"

Luke groaned in pain as the droid's spear hit him, throwing him on his knees on the floor. Surrounded by the puppet council's unseeing eyes he looked in sudden horror of the approaching Aleena Jedi Master. Luke had no weapons, he hadn't eaten properly in days, he was dehydrated and quite possibly drugged.

"Sith. Darth Vader's spawn," the Jedi said, rising up on his artificial limbs.

"I'm not–" Luke tried again, and cried out when Paratus's whacked his already painful arm.

"Silence," the mad Jedi commanded, his pike pointing at Luke's chest. "You have no voice here, Sith."

Luke gulped, trying to lean away from the weapon.

"I know why you have come. Why you are here. I know what you want," Paratus said, eyes wide with madness. "You came to finish what Vader started, didn't you? Masters! I won't let the Sith win this time!"

"I'm not here to do anything!"

"Silence!" Paratus shouted, jabbing the blunt end of his pike against Luke's chest so hard the boy fell over on his arms still bound behind his back. "You cannot speak in the presence of the Masters!"

Luke grit his teeth against the agony burning his arms. Around them the puppet council rattled and the figures rose from their seats.

"The Council has decided," Paratus whispered, eyes darting from side to side. "The Council... Masters. I will carry out your order!"

Whatever his intention was, whatever the mad Jedi though he heard the Council tell him, the Aleena thankfully had no chance to act. The noisy lift behind them rattled closer and closer, and just as the deranged Jedi Master seemed to decide to ignore it, its doors opened to reveal Rahm Kota.

"What in the stars' name is happening here?"

The puppets sat back down lifelessly. Luke's head shot up at Kota's voice. The man stood at the doorway looking far better off than the last time he'd seen the man. He cried out and slumped back on the floor as Paratus hit him once more.

"Stop this insanity," Kota demanded as he walked forward to the centre of the chamber.

"Master Kota, you were not summoned by the Council," Paratus declared in almost childish manner, tapping the floor with his staff.

"The Council?" Kota scoffed, arm gesturing at the puppets around them.

"The Council demands a trial."

"A trial? You bullying this boy is hardly a trial. The Council would never have a child beaten in front of them!"

"The Sith must die," Paratus insisted. "The Council has decided."

"There is no Council, the Council is gone," Kota reminded the other Jedi. "Darth Vader marched to the Temple and slaughtered everyone in there, and the clones took down the rest. Do you not remember that?"

"I remember," Paratus seethed, getting up on his spidery legs. "I was there, I was at the Temple! I saw the clones swarming in and I saw them destroy our home!"

"Well then you know the Council is gone. They are dead. Kazdan, calm yourself and think."

"The Sith destroyed the Temple. That boy is a Sith. Son of Vader!" Paratus screeched, pointing his staff at Luke. "He must die!"

The two droids that had brought Luke here stepped forward, weapons drawn.

"Not yet," Kota reminded firmly. "If you kill him now, we will lose the only leverage we have."

Luke held his breath as the blind Jedi stared down their mad host.

"We are what's left of the Order," Kota calmly, but firmly said. "We need this boy alive to lure Vader somewhere where we can rid the galaxy of him."

The words seemed to reach the Aleena. The madness brought by years of solitude cleared and he seemed to regain some sense of reality once more. "Of course..."

"Order your droids away, Kazdan."

"But the Sith..."

"I will take care of the boy."

"Yes, of course... You're right," Paratus mumbled. He waved his hand at the droids. " Leave us."

The droids put away their weapons and stepped back. Luke's shoulders relaxed, but the look in his eyes remained hateful as he watched the two Jedi carefully.

"Well then, young Vader," Kota said as he turned to walk to the boy. "Stand up."

Luke barely could. His body ached and the chain attached to the collar around his neck rattled as Kota's firm hand guided him into the lift.

"Quickly now, boy," Kota said quietly. "Before he changes his mind."

The doors closed behind them and once the lift began moving Kota let go of Luke's arm. The man sniffed the air loudly. "Time to get you cleaned."

Luke felt his cheeks redden. He hadn't washed in weeks. There was no refresher in his cold, dark cell. Even if there was it would have made no difference –his hands were bound behind his back. He must have reeked.

"You're wasting your time, both of you. Vader won't come for me," Luke said under his breath.

"We shall see."

"He won't," Luke insisted. "He doesn't care about me. I'm nothing to him."

"I didn't get that feeling from you when you said you were his son."

"I lied."

"I don't think you did."

"Even if it were true, which it isn't, he wouldn't come for me," Luke argued. "He has other apprentices."

The corner of the Jedi's mouth turned to a curious smile. "So, not only are you his son, he also teaches you?"

Luke cursed his tongue. "I'm not one of them," he said frustratedly. "I'm just...I'm not even an assassin. I'm nothing. I don't...I haven't even met him."

"Another lie," Kota observed. "I sense a lot of conflict in you. It seems to me that though you try to shroud the truth from me, you only end up revealing your true feelings."

Luke pressed his mouth shut and glared at the Jedi.

"Ah, I seem to have hit a sore spot. Your feelings towards your father are...complicated. Does daddy not appreciate you?"

"He's not my father," Luke denied once more, suddenly shaking with rage.

"If you say so, young Vader."

"Stop calling me that."

The lift came to a stop and the doors opened.

"Maybe if you manage to tell your lies convincingly," the Jedi replied, stepping forward into the corridor.

"You're mad, both of you," Luke exclaimed as he followed the man. "You are crazy if you think Vader would ever bother coming to this sorry excuse of a planet. Even if he by some miracle did, a blind drunk, deranged lunatic, and a bunch of droids and puppets won't be enough to stop him."

"I would be very careful of that deranged lunatic and his droids and puppets if I were you," Kota said soberly. "You have no friends here, Sith, so I would advise against making Kazdan Paratus more of an enemy he already is to you."

"Paratus is out of his mind."

"Yes, Kazdan's state of mind is worrisome," Kota agreed. "Which is why I advise you remain on your best behaviour. Next time I may not be in time to save you."

The Jedi's honesty confused Luke. Did he expect a thank you? He would get none, Luke thought as Kota led him to a maze of corridors in the lower parts of the temple, to the heart of this tribute to the fallen Jedi. It was all a mismatch of different metals, dirty durasteel by rusty iron. More statues constructed from junk littered their path. Were they fallen Jedi, too, Luke wondered. The chain that just about reached the floor was loud in the otherwise silent rooms. The Jedi remained silent until they arrived to a room lined up with showers. Kota's hands worked the biometric binders until the wretched things finally came off and clattered to the floor.

"Strip," the Jedi said, walking towards the showers. His hand swiped a censor on the wall and water began pouring down. "And shower."

"Shower..?" Luke asked dubiously. Only now did he notice how hoarse he sounded, and how sore his throat was from thirst. Of course he knew what Kota meant, but he had never showered with water before. He had only ever taken sonic showers.

Kota misunderstood him: "I'm blind," the man reminded him. Steam rose from the warm water to the cool air.

Luke wetted his dry lips and began stripping, but his hand barely co-operated with him after being bound for so long. Kota's unseeing eyes were still covered with a bandage, yet Luke could still feel the man carefully follow his every move. The tiles under his bare feet were cold and he gasped a little as he stepped under the downpour of hot water. At first it burnt his skin, but as he adjusted to the temperature it became pleasantly warm. The water smelled of iron and tasted disgusting, but Luke stole palmfuls of it regardless of Kota telling him not to drink it straight from the shower. He did his best to scrub himself clean with his hands and couldn't help but to let out a disappointed whine when Kota turned the water off.

"Enough," the Jedi said. "Come."

Seeing no choice but to obey Luke followed the man through another set of doors. He gasped at the sight. There were shallow pools of steaming water on the floor, and many more that were empty.

"I presume it doesn't look like much," Kota said with a hint of sadness in his voice. "The baths at the Jedi temple were beautiful. There were trees and flowers everywhere. We had mosaics on every surface."

There was no such beauty here. Everything was depressingly grey and brown. The water here not only smelt rusty, but had a slight rusty tint to it, too, but Luke sat down in the bath happily nevertheless. He drowsily wondered at how light he felt, when Kota spoke again:

"Rest assured you won't get far if you try to escape now. You won't survive long outside without clothes, should you make it that far. And you should count yourself lucky if I find you before Kazdan's droids do. I'd stay put if I were you."

"Where are you going?" Luke found himself asking, almost panically.

"Just stay where you are. I'll be back," he said, already walking away. "And don't drown. I need you alive."

The water was blissfully warm and did wonders to Luke's aching body as he waited. Once he was so warm he became dizzy, dizzier than he already was, he sat up on the ledge to cool down. He soon got cold and submerged himself back into the water, but there was coldness deep in his bones that didn't seem to leave. He felt feverish.

Kota was right in saying it was no use to run now. Luke had nowhere to go to. Would father really come? Luke both hoped he would and that he wouldn't. He wanted to get away from here, but he didn't want to have his father involved.

What if Father blamed Galen? Where was Galen, if not here? If Kota had nothing to do with his disappearance, then how would Luke ever find him? Did Father care at all? He must have known Galen had gone missing.

Luke bit his lip uncomfortably. Father would be so angry. The one thing he had sworn to never reveal to anyone, the most important secret he had to keep - and he just handed it to the enemy. Had they contacted Father already? Luke needed to find out. The very least he could do was try to somehow convince Kota the time wasn't right. And that if and when Kota did contact Darth Vader, he would do it without alerting the rest of the galaxy and most importantly the Emperor of Luke's existence.

Luke may not have had allies here, but Kota was his best chance of having one. Paratus was unpredictable and Kota knew it, too. Rahm Kota had no true allies here, either. They were both amongst enemies. Kota was as good as a prisoner here, too. Luke just needed to convince Kota of that as well.